nandwrite from inside fr: u-boot, boot-env, flash? was: Re: [2007.2 fr] boot prolems
i needed to have a cellphone for a lifeline. i am not quite sure, the fr is ready for that critical mission yet, you probably should keep a little, simple cell phone somewhere handy as backup! for flashing from the running fdr: the opkg kernel packages do it, using nandwrite. it would be very interesting if on of the hw guys (andy?) could point out if the procedure works for flashing u-boot and flash (when running from sd), too. for booting from sd: to get there you still need the boot menu -- unles even the boot env could be flashed from inside fr and, additionally, the menu could made show up by default (and boot the first entry after a timeout). so, basically the question to the more expereinced members of the list: what exactly could we do with nandwrite and friends of mtdutils? ps: just for informational purposes -- below the script _i_ use to flash a debian kernel to the kernel partition. KIDS! DON'T DO THAT AT HOME!!! #!/bin/sh # cat /proc/mtd returns addresses and names of partitions MTD_KERNEL_PARTITION=`cat /proc/mtd | grep kernel | cut -d':' -f1` MTD_KERNEL_PARTITION=/dev/$MTD_KERNEL_PARTITION /usr/sbin/flash_eraseall $MTD_KERNEL_PARTITION /usr/sbin/nandwrite -p $MTD_KERNEL_PARTITION /boot/uImage.bin ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: nandwrite from inside fr: u-boot, boot-env, flash? was: Re: [2007.2 fr] boot prolems
On Saturday 10 January 2009, arne anka wrote: for booting from sd: to get there you still need the boot menu -- unles even the boot env could be flashed from inside fr and, additionally, the menu could made show up by default (and boot the first entry after a timeout). I don't think that's true - iirc the default boot command is just another environment setting, so you could change it to boot from SD instead of NAND. You could probably get it to do something other than boot too, but I don't remember if there's a command to display the menu that you could use. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: nandwrite from inside fr: u-boot, boot-env, flash? was: Re: [2007.2 fr] boot prolems
I don't think that's true - iirc the default boot command is just another environment setting, so you could change it to boot from SD instead of NAND. that's what i wrote later on -- but to change that setting you have to be in the nor mode ... i mentioned the sd because it came up as means of flashing, and with a default configuration you need for booting from sd a hold/press aux/pwr combination as well as for nor mode. You could probably get it to do something other than boot too, but I don't remember if there's a command to display the menu that you could use. let's hope andy or someone else comes up with something. ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
[2007.2 fr] boot prolems
first off, I am a person with disabilities: my left arm does not function. pre-stroke, I had extensive experience as a developer/engineer in both corporate and FOSS environments. a few falls over he past year convinced me i needed to have a cellphone for a lifeline.i already carry a pda in my shirt pocket, so i need a phone that replaces that functionality, and in 2008, i moved my personal computing environment to strictly FOSS. i have lusted for a freerunner from the first i heard of them. at christmas, i was given enough money to allow me to obtain one. (I live on a fixed and limited income, $400 was a major investment for me.) it came tuesday. (I had pre-read the getting started page.) i charged it for a few hours then slogged through getting it hooked up via usb, then slogged through doing the updates, which did not go well all (but that's another issue for another time.) suffice it to say fr is now in a state where it has no xserver, and endlessly scrolls error messages on the display resulting from the mishmash created by the botched update process. i can access a command shell on the fr via ssh. i can wget so dns is working, as is acccess to the Net as a whole. however I cannot successfully press and hold aux then press power to get to the boot menu. i'm pretty creative about solving you only have one hand problems, but i haven't been able to beat this one. before you try to tell me just do this, pleas try your method with your left (more accurately, non-dominant) hand in its pocket (you'd be amazed how many things you use both for without realizing. it seems there should be a relatively simple software based solution to this problem. the boot menu is just a program, somewhere (I assume in what a dinosaur like me would think of as) the computer's memory space. it would seem if you knew where it was, you could use a debugger to jump to that location and begin execution. it would seem a shell script could accomplish that, or even a small binary executable. if some om zen master could either point out why that wouldn't work, or whip up the appropiate tool, i''d be eternally grateful. -- ha...@jonesnose.com Harry L Lee (via gmail) chief cook and bottle washer http://jonesnose.com mailto:ha...@jonesnose.com 207-384-8030 (email preferred) ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
Re: [2007.2 fr] boot prolems
Harry, Welcome to Openmoko community. On Fri January 9 2009 7:45:25 pm Harry L. Lee wrote: however I cannot successfully press and hold aux then press power to get to the boot menu. i'm pretty creative about solving you only have one hand problems, but i haven't been able to beat this one. before you try to tell me just do this, pleas try your method with your left (more accurately, non-dominant) hand in its pocket (you'd be amazed how many things you use both for without realizing. I had to work on this on for a bit. I've pressed both buttons many times when holding the FR in my left hand. The button orientation doesn't work out as well for that when I switch it to my right hand. That is, until I realized turning it over would orient the buttons the same way as if it were in my left hand. So, give this a try. Hold the FR in your hand with the screen facing away from you (ie, you are looking right at the openmoko written on the back) with your thumb on the AUX button and all 4 fingers basically next to each other on the other side (side with the power button). When I hold it that way, my ring finger naturally ends up on the power button. Then, press and hold the AUX button with your thumb and then press the power button for about 2 seconds. Then, you should be able to run dfu-util. Also, I realized I could flip my hand over while holding it this way and still see a bit of the screen to know when I had held the buttons long enough. it seems there should be a relatively simple software based solution to this problem. the boot menu is just a program, somewhere (I assume in what a dinosaur like me would think of as) the computer's memory space. it would seem if you knew where it was, you could use a debugger to jump to that location and begin execution. it would seem a shell script could accomplish that, or even a small binary executable. if some om zen master could either point out why that wouldn't work, or whip up the appropiate tool, i''d be eternally grateful. That's the kind of thinking I like to see! :) Though, I have no idea how to go about doing this. Josh ___ Openmoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
